In an open, prospective, randomized study, the efficacy of fluconazole was compared with that of the combination amphotericin B/flucytosine. Forty surgical patients with deep-seated mycoses were included in the study. Absolute inclusion criteria were histological finding of fungi in a tissue sample taken during surgery from e.g. peritoneum, pancreas, lungs or trachea, a positive blood culture or candida lesion of the eye. According to the random list 20 patients received up to 0.5 mg amphotericin B per kg body weight in combination with 3 x 2.5 g flucytosine (5-FC) daily and 20 patients received fluconazole, 400 mg on the first day and then 300 mg daily. The two therapy groups were comparable in terms of age, sex and underlying diseases. Gastrointestinal perforations (27 times) were the most frequent underlying diseases. Candida albicans was the fungus most frequently detected microbiologically (34 times). The pathogens were eliminated from 12 patients in the fluconazole group and 14 patients in the combination group. The median elimination time was 8.5 days in the fluconazole group and 5.5 days in the amphotericin B/5-FC group. Six patients died in the fluconazole group, whereas five patients died in the comparison group. Side effects which necessitated switching of therapy occurred twice in the combination group. In deep-seated candida mycoses, surgical patients receiving the combination therapy with amphotericin B/5-FC showed an earlier elimination than patients on monotherapy with fluconazole. With respect to cure rates there was no difference between these two regimens.

Marked extracorporeal elimination of levofloxacin occurs, requiring a dosage adjustment that can be calculated from the characteristics of CVVH and CVVHDF.

Mechanical testing of articular cartilage and repair tissue enables judgment of their capacity in withstanding mechanical loading. In the past, different methods have been developed requiring a complex technical setup and extensive data analysis. Therefore, the aim of the present project was to build up a simple measuring apparatus for laboratory indentation tests. The device consists of an incremental optical displacement transducer with a sleeve bearing guided plunger and a spherical tip made of polished steel (radius: 0.75 or 1.5 mm), a sensitive load cell and a stiff frame. The indentation force results from the plunger's gravity plus the force of the spring inside the displacement transducer and levels at 0.170 N or 0.765 N. The displacement transducer is fixed to the frame via the load cell that enables one to detect the initial contact of the tip with the tissue. The load cell has a standard uncertainty of 2 mN and the displacement transducer of 1 microm. From indentation-creep tests, a "0.25-s elastic modulus" is calculated. Measurements on thin rubber sheets were carried out to determine the quality of the measuring device. Compression tests on cylinders made of these rubber sheets yielded control data, and a good agreement with the "0.25-s elastic modulus" was found. Indentation tests on cartilage at different sites of sheep femoral condyles yielded a very good repeatability of the measurement results (+/-7.5%).

No abstract

From a sports medical point of view it is concerning that the proportion of doping drugs prescribed by physicians has doubled in the decade after the publication of the predecessor study in Northern Germany despite optimized sports medical and legal education measures.